Joan Gallos Named Curators' Professor

Release Date: Sep 22, 2008

Joan Gallos, Ed.D., professor of leadership and director of the Executive MBA program at the Bloch School, has been named University of Missouri Curators’ Teaching Professor of Leadership. At the recommendation of UM System president Gary Forsee (and after review at the campus and system levels), The Board of Curators confirmed the appointment at their September meeting.

A Curators’ Professorship is the highest academic rank awarded by the University of Missouri to a select few scholars with extraordinary records of professional accomplishment. The selection process includes review by a panel of distinguished scholars who assess each candidate against national norms for outstanding achievement. Gallos’s appointment is an honor for UMKC, and the first Curators’ appointment in the history of the Bloch School.

Gallos joins four current Curators’ Teaching Professors at UMKC:  Bruce Bubacz (Philosophy), Charles Wurrey (Chemistry), Joan Dean (English) and Carla Klausner (History). 

Gallos has an exceptional record of award-winning teaching, research, and service, and her portfolio for this appointment reflects her impact on former students, practicing professionals, colleagues, scholars, and educators across fields and institutions.

She has published three books (with three others in development), as well as numerous articles, chapters, and sets of curricular and instructional materials – and has maintained a high record of scholarly contribution while engaged in an array of service and leadership activities on campus and within her profession.

She has, for example, served as the editor of the Journal of Management Education, as a founding board member for the Academy of Management Learning and Education, and on other journal editorial boards; as president of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, the nation’s oldest professional association promoting excellence in management education; as a member of many regional and national advisory boards including the national steering committee for the New Models of Management Education project (a joint effort of the Graduate Management Admissions Council and the AACSB – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) which informed the new accreditation standards for business schools world-wide; and as a board member for a number of civic and nonprofit organizations in greater Kansas City.

At UMKC, Gallos has also served as professor and dean of education, coordinator of University accreditation, special assistant to the chancellor for strategic planning, and director of the higher education graduate programs.   

Distinguished colleagues from around the nation wrote in support of Gallos and her scholarship, which has been described as an “imaginative integration of fields” that “transcends disciplinary boundaries.”  Kim S. Cameron, William Russell Kelly Professor of Management and Organizations and dean emeritus of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan notes:   

“Joan has been a prolific contributor to the teaching literature in the field of organizational behavior. Joan is one of a very small number of people who have made significant contributions regarding teaching pedagogy, scholarship, and outcomes. Her resume attests to her prolific contributions, but it does not attest to the reputation she carries in the discipline. The awards she has won for her writing highlight its importance, but it should be noted that Joan is regarded as a star and as an important flag bearer as it relates to teaching as scholarship. Her work has helped legitimize teaching as a source of scholarly thinking, innovative processes, and intellectual impact.”

# # #